Nonprofit spotlight: Helen's Hope Chest creates program for aging foster care youth
This article is part of a series highlighting the work of grantees of The Republic's Season for Sharing and A Community Thrives initiatives.
Every year, about 900 Arizonans age out of the foster care system. Half of them will end up homeless.
Helen's Hope Chest would like that homeless statistic to be zero.
The organization received a $25,000 A Community Thrives grant in 2020 for its Foster360 program, which provides housing, basic needs and life skills education for young adults ages 18-24 who are aging out of the state system.
Helen's was one of 15 Arizona nonprofits that shared more than $203,000 in A Community Thrives grants last year. The application period is closed for 2021, but qualified applicants will soon begin raising matching funds to be further considered for this year's grants of up to $100,000. Awards will be announced in September.
Grants are awarded around the theme of community building. Helen's Foster360 program is dedicated to ensuring that foster kids who age out of the system at 18 are set up for success. A key factor is finding safe housing. The program also offers educational and interactive curriculum around life skills including financial literacy and budgeting, trauma, cooking and healthy relationships.
Foster360 program Director Candice Liozu provided more details about the group.
"Our hope is that the program can be replicated across the state of Arizona. We want to show a direct correlation between our work and the reduction of chronic homelessness in youth aging out of foster care," she said.
Mission: The Foster360 program was founded in April 2018. The residential Culver Campus in central Phoenix started in December 2020. Foster360’s mission is to empower youth aging out of foster care by ... providing the necessary tools, education and mindset to succeed in life.
How many individuals do you help each year?The organization expects to assist and house between 10 and 25 young adults.
How did you spend your Community Thrives grant? With the grant money, five, two-bedroom apartments were fully furnished to house 10 people ages 18 and 24. The program also assigned residents a "personal navigator" who mentors and coaches them.
How do you gauge your success?Every resident that has actively participated in the program in the past six months has demonstrated growth through finding stable employment. Many have also decided to pursue their education. The program duration is 18-24 months.
The Foster360 program partners with the Arizona Children’s Association and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which helps with physical and mental health needs.
What are your organization’s greatest needs? Funding is needed to hire knowledgeable, professional staff members. Having the most qualified staff promotes low turnover and ensures stability for our residents.
Can you share a personal story that represents and aligns with your organization’s mission? J., a 21-year-old resident who experienced two failed adoptions, suffers from massive anxiety. J. repeatedly lied to staff, would not show up to work on time and lacked basic budgeting skills. We worked with him for four months.
"We modeled positive behaviors, took time to sit down with him and discussed what it meant to be responsible, showed him consequences for some of his behaviors. Most importantly, we let him know that we cared about him, no matter what," Liozu said.
Six months into the program, J. is showing up on time for work, saving money and paying rent and utilities. He's also enrolled in college.
"We meet our residents where they are and don’t give up on them," Liozu said.
Helen's Hope Chest is located at 126 E. University Dr., Mesa. Online at helenshopechest.org; phone, 480-969-5411; Instagram @helenshopechest; Facebook at facebook.com/HelensHopeChest; and Twitter @HelensHopeChest
Reach the reporter at 480-253-8584 or roxanne.delarosa@azcentral.com.